Public Must Seize Utilities' Mountain Land

Published 4:00 am, Wednesday, March 21, 2001

THE EARTH abides. That's the anchor to cling to while California rocks through a roaring, destabilizing, economic typhoon fanned by a boneheaded energy deregulation scheme.

Earth abides. That's why, as our state pours good taxpayer money after bad, bailing out benighted utilities while lining vaults of rapacious power generators, we should demand a lasting, tangible return for all that vanishing cash.

We should regain possession of an ultimate asset: the utilities' mountain land.

If we do, then wildlife, forest health, water quality and abundant outdoor recreation will be saved. Fail to possess this vulnerable acreage, and it swiftly will fall prey to buzzards already aloft and circling -- if utilities are forced into bankruptcy.

Right now, the state mainly pursues ownership of power transmission lines, as well as conservation easements and maybe some coastland. It's nice to see Gov. Davis and the Legislature wrangle for some permanent return, as our former budget surplus gets shoveled away.

But here are three reasons why chasing after transmission lines as a principal goal is a lousy idea.

-- Desperate utilities are insisting on wildly inflated prices. (Southern California Edison seeks a price of $2.76 billion, more than twice the book value; PG&E wants about three times book value, or $10 billion).

-- The state would have to create an expensive new bureaucracy to operate the facilities.

-- The state would be on the hook for deferred maintenance on this infrastructure, which likely would cost billions more.

Compare that wobbly transmission grid with a far more attractive option. PG&E, for example, holds 140,000 acres of prime mountain real estate that includes old-growth forest, trophy trout streams, as well as 130 miles of streamside and 130 miles of lakefront property. Anglers, campers, whitewater buffs, hikers and other recreationists have enjoyed access to much of this for a century.

It's been public land in all but name. Let's go the rest of the way. The state already has departments of Water, Forestry and Parks and Recreation, well-versed in managing assets such as these.

These holdings include 50,000 federally regulated acres associated with dams and reservoirs, but there's no reason why hydropower assets should not speedily be transferred to the state as well -- forcing PG&E into relatively harmless status as a "pure utility."

PG&E might not want this, at first. But in this mess, purity's as rare as solvency.

Consider our illustrious "godfather of deregulation," former Gov. Pete Wilson, the "architect of deregulation," state Sen. Steve Peace, or Senate Minority Leader Jim Brulte, "midwife of the deregulation bill," introduced while he was in the Assembly.

Presently, these savants and servants of the public weal shun such well- deserved cognomens like plague buboes. But when they pursue office again, deregulation will get hung firmly about their necks. They'll be peppered with inquiries at every press conference.

How can they redeem themselves? By helping our commonwealth rescue those prized mountain lands from deregulation's rubble. A little repentance in sackcloth, a lot of lobbying their associates to make things right, and an effort to offer subsequent generations of Californians something besides skyrocketing energy costs and a burden of debt -- such moves would look pretty good just now.

There's even a plum role for Gov. Davis. His cautious and secretive efforts to negotiate an exit from this jam might be slightly better than the bold, secretive maneuvers his predecessors used to create it. But where's that brave Davis who once threatened to use eminent domain to obtain all the resources needed for a sane energy policy? He should grab that club back off the shelf and brandish it.

As far as those well-heeled lobbyists for utilities and venal out-of-state generators who (despite strident denials) deserve fully as much glory as Wilson, Brulte and Peace -- their best move right now would be to lay low and stay out of the public's way.

If not, we've got to shove them aside, roll up our sleeves and fix this thing. The best place to start is by winning an indefatigable grip on the most valuable and enduring assets. Don't settle for half-measures. Right now, the governor is negotiating "conservation easements" on some lands as part of the bailout package.

Easements still cost us a lot, they eventually reach an expiration date, and -- if the utilities with whom we make agreements go belly-up -- the paper we've written on will turn to ash.

Let's not stuff any more smoke into bags, flattering ourselves that we've saved anything. Conservationists of all types, sportsmen, sportswomen, all lovers of nature and the outdoors should be lined up three deep around the State Capitol, raising havoc until these mountain waters and watersheds return to the public trust.